Yarn conditioning device



Feb. 27 1951 c. F. DULKEN ErAL YARN CONDITIONING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 7, 1945 Feb. 27, 1951 Filed Hatch 7, 1945 C. F. DULKEZN TAL YARN CONDITIONING DEVICE 2 .Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 27, 195i U N I T E D YARN CONDITIONING DEVICE Charles F. Dulken, Montclair, Arthur M.v Stern, Caldwell, George Westwater, Irvington, and Paul A. Reuter, Union, N. J.; said Stern, said Westwater, and said Reuter assignors to said Dulken Application March 7, 1945, Serial No. 581,500

Claims.

The present invention relates to a yarn conditioning or dyeing attachment for yarn winding machines commonly known as winders.

An obiect of the invention is to provide an equipment for conditioning and dyeing yarn or the like with any kind of conditioning or dyeing emulsion or liquid while in the process of being wound. y

A further object of the invention is to provide an equipment as specied above which can be attached to conventional winding machines without making alterations and whereby the attachment does not interfere with the operation of the machine for non-conditioning work.

An object of the present invention is the provision of an equipment of the kind specified whereby a roller running on the package is wetted with the conditioning liquid and the latter is transferred from said roller to the package by direct contact of the roller and the surface of the package.

An object of the present invention is the provision of an equipment lof the type specified with which the conditioning liquid is applied to the roller driving the forming package by friction l whereby the liquid is partly wiped off the drive roller by the oncoming yarn and partly transfalling into the groove between the two additional rollers is squeezed and spread over the total width of the rollers.

An object of the present invention is the provision of means in apparatus of the kind set forth which assure that no liquid is applied whenever the Winder is not operated and waste ferred to the package from the still Wet drive u roller due to the direct contact between drive roller and forming package.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a mechanism as specified in the two paragraphs next above whereby an auxiliary roller running on the main roller which is in contact with the yarn on the forming package is wetted with the conditioning liquid and the latter is transferred, from said auxiliary roller to the main roller which is in contact with the yarn by direct contact of the two rollers, and whereby the auxiliary roller is kept in rotationA by frietional engagement with the main roller and frictional resistance and power required for operating the equipment is kept at a negligible minimum.

An object of the present invention resides in the provision of means for equally distributing the treating liquid in an equipment of the type set forth above over the whole length of the auxiliary or wetting roller and thereby over the whole active length of the surface of the main roller.

An object of the invention is the provision, in a device of the character set forth above, of a plurality of additional rollers positioned sideby side and parallel to one another and to the auxiliary roller and friction driven thereby, whereby the conditioning liquid is supplied substantially to the line of engagement of the two additional rollers which are farthest away from the wetting roller whereby the drops of liquid of liquid or dripping thereof whenever and whereto this is not desired.

A further object of the present invention ls the provision of adjusting means for regulating the supply of liquid to the package and of means for maintaining the once adjusted rate of supply of liquid absolutely constant.

Further and other objects of the present invention will be hereinafter set forth in the accompanying specification and claims and shown in the drawings, which by way of illustration show what we now consider to be preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic showing of the equipment according to the invention.

Fig'l 2 is a part sectional top view of the auxiliary wetting roller and the tray in which the former is wetted.

Fig. 3 is a part sectional side View of the device for wetting the auxiliary wetting roller, the main roller and the package to be conditioned or dyed.

Fig. 4 is a large scale sectional view taken along line IV-IV through a portion of the device shown in Fig. 3 and showing a detail.

Fig. 5 is a part top View of a modified arrangement for equally distributing conditioning liquid over the whole length of the main roller.

Fig. 6 is a top view of a modified arrangement for applying liquid over the whole length of the wetting roller.

Fig. '7 is a side view. of the arrangement shown in Fig. 6.

. Fig. 8 is a sectional View of the device shown in Fig. 7, the section being taken along line VIIl--VIIl of Fig. 6.

Like parts are designated by like numerals in all figures of the drawings'.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawing, numeral I designates a tank containing the conditioning liquid. The latter is drawn from said tank by a pump 2 which is connected to and driven by the main drive of the winding machine to which the equipment according to the invention is attached, Pump 2 is driven by a motor 50 which also drives drive rollers I8 for the packages 30 by a conventional mechanism used in conventional winders in combination with which the present invention is used. A by-pass 3 with a valve 4 may be provided. The pump pushes the liquid into conduit-5 and therethrough into upright cylindrical container 6. Conduit 5 has an opening 1 smaller than the ow area in line permitting a small portion of the pumped liquid to return into tank I. The main purpose of this valve will be described later.

A tube 8 having a slot 9 is disposed within container 6 permitting liquid to pass through slot 9 thereinto and therefrom back through conduit ID into tank I. A tube is rotatably displaced around tube 8. Tube I| has a plurality of openings I2 displaced along a helical line thereon. This tube can be rotated about tube 8 by manipulating hand wheel |3. An indicator pointer I4 shows the position of tube Tube with openings I2 together with tube 8 with slot 9 constitute a valve providing communication of container 6 with the inside of tube 8 at variable adjustable elevations. In the position shown, opening I5 coincides with slot 9 and surplus liquid returns through opening I5, slot 9, tube 8 and conduit I0 to tank I, and the liquid level is maintained in container 6 at the level shown which is visible from outside in the gage glass I6 which communicates with container 6.

The not returned liquid iiows from container 6 into distributing conduit |1. Conventional sight feed valves 20, 2|, 22 are disposed on conduit |1 at regular intervals which coincide with the intervals at which drive rollers I8 and package cores I9 are arranged on the winding machine. Only three of these valves are shown. In actual practice as many feed valves are provided as there are drive rollers. At the far end of tube I1 a stand pipe 23 is provided which is open on top, the open end pointing downward to keep out dust.

Figures 2 and 3 show a feed valve and the device for transferring the liquid to the auxiliary roller 24 in larger scale. The conditioning liquid drips through feed valve 2| at regular intervals which can be positively set by adjustment of the liquid level in container 6 and spindle 25 of the feed valve. The individual drops and the rate of drip is visible through a glass-covered opening 2| in the feed valve 2|. Therefrom the liquid flows into flexible tube 26 which is stuck into an opening in the back of the fiat pan or tray 21 which declines toward the drive roller I8. The pan or tray may be Covered by a cover 28. At the lower end of the pan or tray a roller 24 which is in the form of a round wick, or, as shown in Fig. 3 is a cylindrical member covered by an absorbent material, is provided which contacts roller I8 and is rotated by friction thereby. This wick absorbs the liquid and is constantly kept wet by the liquid supplied through hose 26. The- Wet wick wets roller I8 and the liquid is wiped therefrom partly by the oncoming yarn 29 and partly transferred to the yarn on the package 30 which, according to standard practice, rotates by friction on the roller I8. The pan or tray 21 has lateral naps or ears 3| which are bolted to bar 32 which is a conventional part of the winding machine. The position of pan or tray 21 with respect to roller I8 is adjustable as it is desirable that its edge 33 is as close to roller I8 as possible. This is accomplished by providing slot shaped openings 34 in the ears 3| for the bolts connecting them to bar 32.

It is desirable that the liquid dripping from the mouth 34 of tube 26 is distributed over the whole width of pan 21 and thereby also of roller 24. For this purpose the surface of the inner bottom of the pan or tray may be channeled and/or provided with a transverse ridge which is shown in larger scale in Fig. 4 and which has notches 4 i at the bottom leaving small openings 35 between the ridge member 35 and the bottom of tray 21. The liquid collects on the side of the ridge facing the mouth of tube 28 and seeps through the openings 38 to the lower side of the tray.

Fig. 5 shows a modified arrangement for distributing the liquid equally over the length oi' roller I8. In this case the hose 28 terminates at the lett side of the back of the tray and iiows onto the end portion of a roller 31 which is provided with a helical groove 38. The roller rests on main roller I8 due to the inclination of tray plate 21 and is rotated by frictional engagement with roller I8. The groove 38 transports the liquid along roller 31 inasmuch as it is not transferred to roller I8.

Figures 6 and 7 show another arrangement'for assuring distribution of liquid for dyeing or conditioning over the whole length of the wetting roller 39. In this case an auxiliary roller 48 of smaller diameter than the wetting roller 39, due to the downward inclination of the tray, rests on wetting roller 39 and receives rotational motion therefrom. Alongside sroller 48 is a second auxiliary. roller 4|, preferably of smaller diameter than roller 48. Roller 4| receives rotational drive from roller 40. The ends of the rollers may be pointed so as to reduce friction when contacting the side walls 42 of the tray. In machines in which the main rollers I8 rotate at high speed, slots 43 may be provided in the side walls 42 of the tray and all or some of the rollers may be provided with pin extensions such as designated by numerals 44, 45 and 46 pertaining to rollers 39, 40 and 4|, respectively, which roll in the slots 43 and prevent jumping of the rollers. Rollers 39, 40 and 4| may be made of wood, rubber or metal, or of tubes, hollow or lled with a heavy material, or may have guide means as roller 38 in Fig. 5, depending on individual conditions and type of conditioning or dyeing liquid. Due to the reduced diameters of the auxiliary rollers, these rotate faster than the wetting roller 39 and roller 4| rotates faster than roller 40.

In some cases the speed of the rollers may be too fast and a brake may be provided on one or more of the rollers. This may be in the form of a band 41 riveted to ears 3| and its pressure on the brake disk 48 may be adjusted by manipulation of the set screw 49.

The liquid drips from the mouth of conduit 26 which is disposed substantially in the middle of the tray, between rollers 40 and 4| and is squeezed and spread over the total width of the auxiliary rollers and thereby also over roller 39 and the main roller I8. More than two auxiliary rollers may be provided if two are not suflicient to spread the liquid over the whole length of the wetting roller.

When the winding machine is stopped, pump 2 is also stopped-as it is driven by the main drive of the Winder-and the liquid in container 6 immediately begins to ilow down through conduit 5 and through the outlet 1 back into tank The pressure of the liquid in conduit I1 is immediately reduced and ilow therethrough stops very soon after the machine is stopped. Any liquid still in the tray and adhering to the auxiliary roller or rollers is absorbed by the yarn on packages 3|! or by absorbent material which may form the surface of one of the rollers or be provided on the tray. This assures that no liquid is wasted when the winding operation is discontinued and no liquid drips when and whereto this is not desired.

while we believe the above described embodiments of our invention to be preferred embodimentsfwe wish it to be understood that we do not desire to be limited to the exact details of method, design and construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

We claim as our invention:

1. A device for conditioning or dyeing yarn or the like by means of a liquid while the yarn is on a package into which it has been wound by a winding machine having a drive roller rolling on said package, a tray member having a surface inclined downward toward said drive roller and having an open portionr adjacent said drive roller, a wetting roller disposed and rolling on said tray member and on said drive roller, a plurality of liquid distributing rollers rotatably disposed on said tray member side by side and in rolling contact with one another, one of said distributing rollers being disposed alongside said wetting roller and receiving rotary motion therefrom and transmitting it to the vnext adjacent distributing roller which transmits rolling motion to the next adjacent roller and so on, and liquid supply means adapted to supply liquid to the portion of the distributing rollersfarthest away from said wetting roller.

2. A device for conditioning or dyeing yarn or the like by meansof a liquid while the yarn is on a package into which it has been wound l by a winding machine having a drive roller rolling on and rotating said package, a tray member having a surface inclined downward toward said drive roller and -having an open portion adjacent said drive roller, a wetting roller rolling on and rotated by said drive roller, a plurality of distributing rollers rotatably disposed in said tray member side by side and in rolling contact with one another, and liquid supply means adapted to drip liquid to a portion of the rollers farthest away from said wetting roller, said tray member having lateral side wall portions confining axial movement of said wetting and distributing rollers.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, said liquid supply means having a mouth portion positioned substantially above the recess formed by the two adjacent distributing rollers farthest away from said wetting roller and dripping liquid into said recess.

4. A device as claimed in claim 2, guide means associated with said side wall portions, and said rollers having end portions adapted to loosely roll and being guided in said guide means.

5. A device as set forth in claim 1 including brake means associated with said wetting roller and reducing its speed of rotation.

.6 that of said wetting roller and the diameter of said second distributing roller being smaller than that of said first distributing roller.

8. A device for conditioning or dyeing yarn or the like by means of a liquid while the yarn is on a package into which it has been wound by a winding machine having a positively driven roller of substantially the same length as said package and driving said package by frictional engagement therewith, said device comprising wetting means including a tray member having an open portion adjacent to said drive roller, conditioning liquid supply means connected with and supplying liquid to said tray member, and roller means resting and rolling on said tray member as well as on the adjacent drive roller.

9. A device for conditioning or dyeing yarn or the like by means of a liquid while the yarn is on a package into which it has been wound byl a winding machine having a positively driven roller of substantially the same length as said,

package and driving said package by frictional engagement therewith, said device comprising wetting means including a tray member having an open portion adjacent to said drive roller, liquid supply means connected with and dripping liquid on said tray member, a roller means resting and rolling on said tray member as well as on said drive roller, and liquid distributing means disposed on said tray member and distributing the liquid over substantially the whole length of said roller means.

10. A device for conditioning or dyeing yarn or the like by means of a liquid while the yarn is on a package into which it has been wound by a winding machine having a positively driven roller of substantially the same length as said package and driving said package by frictional engagement therewith, said device comprising wetting means including a tray member having an open portion adjacent to said drive roller, conditioning liquid supply means connected with and supplying liquid to said tray member, roller means resting and rolling freely onsaid tray member as well as on the adjacent drive roller, and brake means 1 engaging said roller means for reducing its rotational speed.

CHARLES F. DULKEN. ARTHUR M. STERN. PAUL A. REUTER. GEORGE WESTWATER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 6. A device for conditioning or dyeing yarn or the like by means of a liquid while the yarn is 60 Nune Stegme Majael856 011 a Package into which it has been Wound by 2906'18 Geurdi'ffffff'nee. '25'1883 a. winding machine having a positively driven 536,724 Hime Apr, 2 1995 drive roller rolling on and rotating said pack- 757,055 Rothwelpgackson Apr, 12: 1904 age by rictional engagement therewith, said 937,052 Shaw Oct, 19, 1909 device comprising a loose wetting roller rolling 05 969,041 De Journo Aug. 30, 1910 directly on the surface of and being rotated by 1,006,471 Eicken oet, 24, 1911 said drive roller, a liquid distributing loose roller 1,109,763 Laux sept. s, 1914 rolling on said wetting rollers, a second liquid 1,675,810 Laterra JuLv 3, 1928 distributing loose roller rolling on and being ro- 1,710,488 Oliphant Apr. 23, 1929 tated by said rst distributingroller, and liquid 7o 1,715,818 Custers June 4, 1929 supply means associated with said second dise 1,783,249 MacMillen -1---- Dec. 2, 1930 tributing roller and supplying liquid to a poi'- 1,838,538 De Wolf Dec. 29. 1931 tion of the surface thereof. 1,968,677 Ferguson July 31, 1934 7. A device as claimed in claim 6, the diameter 2,253,122 Hamant Aug. 19, 1941 of said first distributing roller being smaller than 

